Black-eyed peas are one of the staples of a Southern kitchen. Most cooks in the South prepare them with animal fat and meat. However, it is possible to cook a perfectly flavorful dish without harming a single animal!

My husband, Eric and I are runners and we are working on getting into shape for some races that we have planned. We have had a lot of bread and carbs lately, but tonight we decided to cut out the carbs and go for a more nutritious meal. Instead of serving the black-eyed peas with rice, I made cauliflower “rice” and instead of bread or potatoes we had baked carrot chips. It was a filling meal but not too heavy. Perfect for the night before a workout!

I cooked the black-eyed peas in my new Instant Pot. I’m having so much fun learning to cook with it! I cut the cauliflower into florets and put them in our Ninja blender to pulse them into “rice”.

Here are the recipes:

Vegan Southern Black-Eyed Peas

Ingredients:

½ white onion, diced

2 cloves fresh garlic, pressed

2 tablespoons olive oil

½ teaspoon paprika

½ teaspoon chili powder

1 ½ cups dried black-eyed peas, sorted and rinsed but not soaked

3 cups water

2 tablespoons nutritional yeast

½ teaspoon each of salt and pepper (optional)

Directions:

Dice the onion and press the garlic cloves.

Place the oil in the pressure cooker and set it to sauté. When it is heated, add the onion and sauté until it is translucent. Add the garlic, paprika, and chili powder and stir for a minute.

Add the rinsed black-eyed peas and the water.

Place the lid on the pressure cooker. Make sure that the vent is sealed.

Place the cooker on the manual (pressure cook) mode and set the time for 25 minutes.

Release the pressure naturally. Make sure that you do not open the lid until the pressure has released.

Before serving, stir in the nutritional yeast, salt, and pepper.

This will make 2 generous servings.

Cauliflower “Rice”

Ingredients:

1 head of cauliflower, washed

¼ cup of water

¼ teaspoon salt and pepper (optional)

Directions:

Cut the cauliflower into florets.

Place 1/3 of the florets in a blender or food processor. Pulse until crumbled. Repeat until all florets have been crumbled.

Add the crumbled cauliflower and the water to a skillet. Cook on medium-high heat until water is absorbed and cauliflower is tender (approximately 5 minutes).

Hello, I’m Kelsey. I have always lived in the South, and I have been a vegan for 8 years. During this time, veganism has exploded and it has become so much easier to find vegan options! Grocery stores carry vegan cheese, cream cheese, sour cream, and even the VeganEgg! However, there are still many restaurants in the South that do not offer any decent plant-based options. My family has a small circle of restaurants that we frequent but most of our meals are made at home.

I decided to create this blog to share my family’s recipes with other vegans in the South (and around the world). My husband and I have decided to raise our son vegan also. He is almost 11 months old and he is at the top of his growth charts and incredibly smart, so we believe that we have made the right decision!